LIBERTY
CORNER -- Harold J. Dobbs, 90, died Tuesday, April
24 at Fellowship Village in Liberty Corner. Born in
Bernardsville, he lived in the Somerset Hills all his
life. Mr. Dobbs was a building contractor in
Bernardsville from 1933 to 1975, carrying on the business
that his father, Joseph Dobbs, had begun in 1909.

Harold
was an active member of the Bedminster and Pottersville
Reformed Churches for more than 50 years, where he sang
in the choir and served on a number of committees, as
well as being a Deacon and an Elder. From 1958 to 1964 he
served on the Reformed Church in America Board of Foreign
Missions.

Mr. Dobbs graduated from Bernards High School in 1928,
the Peddie School in 1929 and Wharton Business School in
1933. He worked for Jos. Dobbs Builders from 1933 until
1939, when he moved to Wigton-Abbott Corp. and served
senior managerial roles in the construction of Ft.
Monmouth ('39-40) and the Bayonne Naval Base ('40-42).
From 1942-45 he was a plant superintendent for Winner
Boat Contractors in Trenton, fabricating balsa wood life
rafts and other life saving devices for the armed forces.

At the close of World War II, Harold returned to the
family business in Bernardsville where he worked until
his father's death in 1955. Harold bought the business
from his siblings and continued under the name Harold J.
Dobbs, Inc. until his retirement in 1975.

Among the major projects built by Harold were the
buildings at Bonnie Brae; St. James Roman Catholic
Church; Somerset Hills Lutheran Church; St. Paul's
Lutheran Church, Raritan; Far Hills Country Day School;
The Purnell School; additions to the Old Mill Inn,
Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church and Bedminster
Reformed Church as well as numerous custom built homes in
the Somerset Hills area.

In 1945 Harold and his wife built their own home in
Bedminster Township and lived there 50 years while
raising four children. Harold and Irene moved to
Fellowship Village in May of 1996.

Harold's life was marked by service to his community.
In 1933 he founded Boy Scout Troop #54 in Liberty Corner,
NJ and served as its Scoutmaster until 1936. Harold
remained active in Scouting through the 1960's with Troop
#151 in Bedminster and the Watchung Council, being
honored with the John Denninger Award, among others. In
1947 he founded the Lion's Club of Far Hills and was a
founding member of the NJ Building Contractor's
Association that same year. In 1959 he joined the Wally
Byam Caravan Club (Airstreamers), then founded the
Watchung Unit in 1961. Harold was a primary organizer of
the national Airstream rally held in Princeton in July of
1964. During the 1960's he served on the Bedminster
Township Library Board.

Mr. Dobbs was predeceased by
his father, Joseph Dobbs in 1955, and his mother, Lizzie
Nuse Dobbs in 1953. He was also the last survivor of six
children: C. Ellsworth Dobbs, formerly of Bedminster, NJ;
Marjorie E. Taylor, formerly of Bernardsville, NJ and
Frederick, MD; Evelyn Hynd, formerly of Westport, CT;
Vera Lighthipe, formerly of Far Hills, NJ and Vero Beach,
FL; Wilma Ludlow, formerly of Bernardsville, NJ and Fort
Pierce, Florida.

Harold is survived by his wife, Irene B. Dobbs,
daughter of Stephen H. Bryant and Ella Davenport Spargo
Bryant, of Mt. Fern, NJ. Married on Nov. 26, 1936 in
Philadelphia, Pa., Harold and Irene took their honeymoon
down the just opened Skyline Drive. They planned to visit
a new state each year until at their 50th anniversary
every one would have been visited. They toured all but
Alaska, and also took three trips to the British Isles
and Europe.

Harold is also survived by four children: Janice I.
Pedersen, of Lincroft, NJ; James B. Dobbs, of East
Norwalk, CT; Stephen H. Dobbs of Oro Valley, AZ; Douglas
D. Dobbs of Hagerstown, MD; and seven grandchildren:
Katherine I. Pedersen-McNeely of Decatur, GA; Caroline M.
Pedersen of Highland Park, NJ; John S. Dobbs of Long
Branch, NJ; Sarah R. Dobbs of East Norwalk, CT; David R.
Dobbs of East Norwalk, CT; Thomas Matthews of California,
MD; Brian Matthews of Lutz, FL; and four
great-grandchildren: Matilda I. McNeely of Decatur, GA;
Thomas Matthews of Virgina Beach,VA; Noah Matthews of
Lutz, FL; Samantha Mathews of California, MD; as well as
his brother-in-law, Donald C. Kitchell, also a resident
of Fellowship Village, formerly of Whippany, NJ; and
numerous nieces and nephews across the country.

A memorial service will be held at Pottersville
Reformed Church, Pottersville, NJ on Sunday, May 6 at 1
PM.

Donations in Harold's memory may be made to the
Pottersville Reformed Church, (P.O. Box 89, Pottersville,
NJ 07979) or the Boy Scouts of America (P.O. Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079).